LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 10, 7 October 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

To fittingly-observe the Allied victories in the East, and to mark .the withdrawal o'f Bulgaria Jrom arhoiig the ranks of the enemies of the- Allies, services of thanksgiving; were held' inmost of the city churches yesterday. Special prayers were offered up m token of thanks for the great successes' which have lately been vouchsafed to the Allied '.arms; and further supplication was'made that the'war mig'at bo brought to u speedy and victorious conclusion in the interests o'f righteousness and justice. In all cases the vices were well attended, and deep earnestness was evinced by the various •congregations.

The Secretary of the Post and Telegraph Department advises that the acceptance of deferred telegrams from North America "via. Eastern" is suspended.

By eight votes to seven the Board of Governors of the Chrktchurch Technical' College granted leave of absence to Noel Ofoldsbury, accountant of the college, who is now serving a- term of imprisonment for refusing to be medically examined for military sen-ice.—Press Assn.

-. Sir John Sa'lmond, Solicitor-General to the Dominion', contributes to ihe "Law Quarterly Review" an article en the constitutional law as to territorial 'waters. Ho' suggests that something more definite and comprehensive should replace the. Territorial Waters Jurisdiction Act, and would define "marginal waters" as "consisting of all waters of the sea which ' are within three miles from the low-water .mark of any land being British territory." A man-o'-warsman named Percy Woods was" admitted to the Hospital on Saturday night suffering from injuries to the head, caused by a fall from a bicycle.- Tlie mishap occurred about 6.30 p.m."in the, vicinity of the Pipitea Wharf, and was ( , caused '_ by, the bicycle stiiking "an obstruction. Tho man's injuries are not believed to be serious. , : ' The statement lias been made that soldiers suffering from .influenza in Trentjiam Camp have been visited by their 'wives, and that these visits are a. possible means of distributing infec-' tioii. The military medical authorities, replying to this allegation, say tuat there is not the least danger of the camps forming centres of infection. If a soldier is in isolation, his friends are net allowed to see him under conditions that would make infection likely," said a medical officer on Saturday. '''We have learned by experience ti at the channel of infection is from | the town to the camp, and not from tlie camp to the town. A recognition of this fact and the isolation .of recruits, have reduced the camp sick rate substantially. I believe that, we could abolish the influenza from the camps altogether if we abolished leave, tut that'is out of the question. Influenza, is very widespread in New Zealand just now, and the infection is. brought into the camps by men who have been on leave."

The Red Cross Fund " in Masterton and district has now reached over £7000.

At a meeting of the Wairarapa Returned Soldiers' Association held at Masterton on Friday night a resolution was passed urging the necessity tor providing land in North Wairarapa for settlement by returned soldiers.

At a conference of the limani School Committees' Association with local •nembers of Parliament on Saturday it was decided to ask all committees and local bodies in South Canterbury to join in a vigorous agitation and send a deputation to Wellington m vlio scission to urge restoration of the South Canterbury Board of. Education in tho interests of efficiency .-Press Assn.,

In the Juvenile Court on Saturday, before Mr. P. V. Frwser, S.M., five boys aged from 13 to lo years, were charged with the theft of chocolates ctc.rfrom iho premises of several firms in the oity. The boys pleaded guilty to the various charges. After- hearing evidence and a statement by Mr. Dinneen Probation Officer, the boys were severely cautioned by tho Magistrate, and three of them, who were second olFenders. were committed, two to the Boys' Training Farm at Nelson and the other to the Boys' Training Farm at TVcraron.' Tho charges against the other two boys were adjourned for a period of two years; in tho meanwhile the bovs are to bo under the supervision of tho Probation Officer. Tho parents were ordered to repay the damage (tone to the premises and to refund the value of tho goods stolen.

Shortly before 8 o'clock on Saturday night a'woman named Mrs. Elizabeth Cameron, who resides at 58 Elizabeth Street, was knocked down by a. motorear in Kent Terrace, opposito the New Century Hall. She suffered a slight 'concussion of the brain, and had to be iidmitesd to the Hospital.

• The Kev. J. K. Archer, president of the Baptist Union of New Zealand, has had a somewhat unusual experience of public life for a clergyman. In Yorkshire he was a member, and then cliairm.il), of a school board. At Grimsby, England's premier fishing centre, lie was a Poor Law Guardian. In Napier, where he first settled on coming to this Dominion, he was chairman of the Main School Committee, member of the Technical School Board, and treasurer of tho Independent Labour Party. In Invercargill, to which ho afterwards moved, he was lecturer on economics for the Workers' Educational Association, and Labour member of the Town Council. Quito recently he has been selected as tho Labour candidate for Invercargill at the next olection, in opposition to the present Minister of Education. He will deliver his presidential address on AYednesday evening, and is expected to refer to somo social aspects and applications of Christianity.

On various occasions during the past few months complaints have been made to the police of women's,clothing having been spoiled by being bespattered with indelible ink. Such wanton actions are generally committed by persons of disordered intellect, hut they aro. nevertheless extremely annoying as the damage caused is ..irremediable and generally serious. Sometime after 9 p.m. on Saturday two ladies walking along Courtenay Place found that their dresses had been soiled in the manner narrated, and as a result of a complaint they made tho police arrested a man, believed to be a returned sol* dier, and' charged him with having wilfully damaged the garments, tho total value of which is about £13. The man will bo brought before the Magistrate's Court this morning to answer •the charge. The appearance of Private W. Foster in Eltham a few days ago ennic as a welcome surprise to many, as it bad been reported that tiUG soldier was killed iu action. Private Foster, who is a Main Body man, brought the.news ,of Private Thomas, of Ngaere, also icnorted killed. He states that; Private Thomas will probably lie returning to New Zealand shortly.

Hitherto military service boarls have granted sine die adjournment in the, appeals/of-all approved aviation cadets. In future, however, these, reservists'will have their appeals' dismissed, but will' be allowed three months' leave. The object of the alteration is to give the Defence. Department a hold on a cadet should_ he fail to qualify for his commission in the Royal Air Force. In the ease of a hoy who passes all'test'< until .lie secures I'.is "wings." the altered treatment of :\n-. peals will have no effect, hut ..shonl; any randidate fail in the air there will now be no harrier to his transfer into one of tlio brunches of the is./i.b-.X-operating on solid earth; A striking evidenco of the shortage of labour was to be seen recently not far'from Ra-kaia. A lady,-wife of a well-to-do farmer, undertook to drive a dray, with a Bpring cart tiod behind, from one farm to another sonie distance away. The task was accomplished successfully, though on the way a traction-engine was scon coming. It was then a raco to-see whether the lady or the engine could get to a cer-' 'ta.iii gate first. The lady won. :

Speaking in the South Island of the War situation, Sir James Allen, ActingPrime Minister, expressed, the opinion that everything appeared most decidedly satisfactory. The events -of ' the past few days, he waqaionvincfld, marked the beginning of the end, and it was quite possible ■ that the'end might come sooner than most people expected. We. had now'the supremacy in man-power, in the air, in .munitions-, in fact, iu practically everything, .while the relief of the -situation in the Balkans was. of course, a. tremendous tiling. One could certainly feel safor now iu predicting an earlier conclusion ■tlian one could a week or two ago.